In the printing industry, there has been a growing market for the remanufacture and refurbishing of various types of printing components and process cartridges such as toner cartridges, ink cartridges, magnetic rollers, seals etc. Process cartridges, such as toner cartridges, for example, once spent are unusable for their originally intended purpose. Without a refurbishing process, they would simply be discarded, even though the cartridge itself may still have potential life. As a result, there have been processes and procedures developed specifically to address this type of issue. These processes may entail the disassembly of the various structures of the cartridge, replacing toner, cleaning, adjusting or replacing any worn components and reassembling the cartridge.
The differences between printer cartridges for various types of printing devices may only be slight or subtle. In many instances it may only be an indentation in the body of the cartridge. In other cases it may be not only a physical attribute of the body of the cartridge, but also the addition of a wireless communications device. Certain style cartridges may be plentiful and relatively inexpensive simply because of certain factors such as the supply in the market or initial cost while other style cartridges may not be available in quantity or too expensive for cost effective use in remanufacturing. The easiest and most economic solution would be to simply convert the inexpensive style cartridges into the more costly style cartridge in order to meet this market demand. The present invention is directed at that conversion process. Additionally, the present invention may have a positive impact on the environment by cutting down on the amount of cartridges being thrown away by providing a new recycling alternative.
One conversion example is converting the Lexmark™ Optra S/Se/T style cartridge into a Lexmark™ T520/522. The Optra style cartridge has a smooth surface on its waste bin portion. The T520/522 style cartridge has an indented section on both the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the waste bin. This indentation allows the cartridge to physically fit into the printer, which has a protrusion to prevent the S/Se/T style cartridge from fitting. In addition, the T520/522 has a contact activated type of circuitry located on its side. In order to convert the Optra to a T520/T522 style cartridge, the waste bin has a section removed, a plug inserted, and the proper circuitry installed. The plug's shape is such that the new contour of the waste bin is similar enough to that of the T520/T522. The plug is either glued in or welded into place. The cartridge then undergoes the remaining refurbishing steps such as refilling of the toner hopper and resealing the cartridge.
Another example is converting a process cartridge, such as an HP4000™ toner cartridge, for example, to an HP4100™ toner cartridge. The 4100 cartridge is essentially the same as the HP4000 except for two minor characteristics. The first difference is the waste bin assembly on the HP4000 has a smooth contour while the HP4100 has an elongated grove. In addition, there are two guides that are present on the 4000 cartridge that are absent on the 4100 cartridge. The conversion process here entails the removal of the guides, the removal of a section of the waste bin and the installation of a plug that now once affixed into place gives the waste bin a new contour such that it will fit into the 4100 printer.
A further example of process cartridge conversion is the modification of the HP4000™ cartridge into one compatible with the Cannon FX6™ fax machine. This conversion only involves the removal of a section of the waste bin assembly of the toner cartridge and the attaching of a plug into that space removed.